Maceration distributor for sugar-cane mils



Patented July 10, 1923.

U ra s 1.41am id l i 1 MACERA'TIONI nrs'rnrsu'ron non- SUGAR-CANE MILLSL Application filed February 1a, 1923. Serial mi, 618,814.

To all whom it may. co'ncernc'q Be it knownthat'I, WILLIAM G. HALL, a citizen of the'United States, residing" at Honolulu, in the Territoryx'of- Hawaii, have invented certain, new i and useful Improvements in :Maceration Distributors for Sugar-' Cane Mills; and I do hereby'declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact de-" scription of the invention, ,such as: will en able others skilled in-the art to. which it ap-z' pertains to make and use the same;-

,The invention relates toanimproved device for receiving-and distributing the water or the-admixture of water and juiceoemployed for the purpose ,of maceratingvthe bagasse as it passes fromone mill to the next in. the ordinary course of extraction of the sugar .juice or sucrose from the cam in a multiple mill plantrv Tothis end the inven tion comprises; arotary cylinder ordrum; provided with a series.- of; longitudinal,

troughs or pockets. on its peripheral surface,

said cylinderbeing adapted to be mounted above and transversely .of the intermediate conveyor between successive sugar canemills, the troughs orcpockets receiving-themacerating liquid from a-suitablesupplypipe and delivering the same uniformly over t-he bagasse as the cylinder rotates.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic end view of a 3-roll sugar cane mill showing the maceration distributor applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section through the maceration distributor.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section through one end of the distributor.

In the extraction of sucrose or sugar juice from cane it is customary to employ a series of mill units, a typical plant including a 2-roll crusher and four 3-roll mills intermediate conveyors for the bagas/ie between the successive units. In order to effectively extract the juice as the latter is expressed by the rolls, it is found necessary to supply macerating water or an admixture of water and juice to the bagasse as the latter passes through certain of the mills. A typical application of maceration to a mill of this type is to apply water rangingfrom 10% to 50% of the weight of the juice to the bagasse after it leaves the third mill in a four-mill train, which water mixes with the bagasse and'when pressed int-he fourth or last mill carries with it a certain amount of sucrose, which would otherwisebe lost; The juice from the fourth 1nill, which is very diluted, is returned as maceration wateronto the bagasse between the. second andthird' mills, and the juice from'the third mill is returned as maceration water to the bagasse between the first and second-mills;

Various devices have been'proposed for 7' distributing the maceration liquid to the bagasse but,.owin :to the fact that the juices from the last mil s in the "traincontain considerab'le cushcush or finely divided cane fibre,'it has been founddiflicult tcpefl'ect a uniform distribution ofthe macerating-me-" 7 dium over the bagasse as-the latter is carried from one mill to the next by the intermediate conveyors. I It has, been attempted to overcome, the difficulty'by straining the-cushcush from the juices sothat the latter might be. supplied or distributed over the traveling, bagasse. The present invention is intended toobviate, the necessity of straining the juices, but, nevertheless, to procure ,a uni-; formdistribution of the maceration liquid and the cushcush admixedftherewith Iover the bagasse so-gasto ins-urea maximum ex,- traction of the sucrose from the cane. pThe' proposition o'f'returning the juice, together with the cushcush, from a mill later in the series to the bagasse entering a mill in advance is not novel per'se, but, so far as applicant is advised, the apparatus to efiect this result have signally-failed, because of the inability toeflect an equable distribution. of the maceration liquid and cushcush over the'bagasse. V i e The present invention provides a thoroughly eflicient, simple, cheap, and sanitary device for eflectingthis desirableobject','as will be evident from the description and op'-. eration thereof in connection with the annexed drawings. I

Referring'to the drawings, 1 represents a typical 3-r01l'mill such as'is commonly employed in extracting the juice from sugar cane. The crushed cane or bagasse is delivered by the mill 1 to, a conveyorv 2, which leads to the succeeding mill in the series.

Mounted above and transversely of the coni veyor 2 is a distributing cylinder or drum 3, which constitutes the basis of the present invention. Said drum comprises a central cylinder 4 provided with end flanges 6 and intermediate longitudinal ribs or webs '5', which are preferably disposed radially to the axis of the cylinder and form, with the surface of the cylinder and the end flanges 6, a series of elongated troughs or pockets, adapted to receive the admixture of maceration liquid and cushcush from supply pipe 10. The cylinder is rotated by means of a chain and sprocket drive, such as 12, which connects the shaft 7, of the distributor With the shaft of the top roll of the mill, as illustrated in Fig. 1. It Will be noted that, as the distributing cylinder rotates above the traveling bagasse on the conveyor 2, the macerating liquid and cushcush will be fed into the elongated trough-like elements of the distributing cylinder from the feed pipe 10, and immediately spreads evenly throughout the length of the receiving trough or gutter. As the cylinder continues to revolve, the cushcush laden liquid overflows the edge of the trough and is. distributed in an even sheet or stream over the bagasse on the conveyor 2. As the troughs or pockets are filled and emptied, successively, itwill be apparent that a substantially uniform supply of maceration liquid Will be delivered to the bagasse on the conveyor below the distributor, and the presence of cushcush Will in no Wise adversely affect this uniform distribution.

It Will be particularly noted that the dis tributor is exceedingly simple in construction, efficient in operation in that it effects uniform distribution of the maceration liquid under all conditions of operation, is not liable to damage or deterioration in that it involves no parts to be clogged up by the accumulation of cushcush, and is enperipheral end flanges and radial ribs connecting said flanges to form longitudinal troughs on the surface of said cylinder, and means for supplying the maceration material to said troughs.

3. The combination of a sugar cane mill, a conveyor for feeding the bagasse to the mill, a maceration distributor, comprising a rotary cylinder having on its surface a 'se'- ries of longitudinal troughs extending transversely of and above the conveyor, and means for supplying the maceration material to said troughs. 4. The combination of a sugar cane mill,

a conveyor for feeding the bagasse tot-he mill, a maceration distributor, comprising a rotary cylinder having peripheral endfianges and radial ribs connecting the flanges to form troughs on thesurface of said cylinder, said distributor mounted transversely of and above the conveyor, and means for supplying the maceration material to said troughs.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature WILLIAM GAR-VIE HALL, 

